Report on the Babysitting

Ok, the children have come and gone. Their mom is back at home and so are the children. It went fine. They arrived at around 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday after having their hair cut. They had eaten supper so it was a pretty easy night. I put Mikey to bed at around 8:00 and then Jackson got ready for bed. I got in bed with him and read to him out of the Bible story book as is our custom. He loves doing that. Then I prayed with him and he went to sleep. He was asleep by 8:30. Mikey wasn't asleep yet but it wasn't long before he drifted off. On Thursday morning, Mikey was awake at 5:15. I left him in the bed and got myself ready for work. Then I went in to Mikey who was making a good bit of noise by that time. I changed his diaper and in walks Jackson. This is all before 6:00. So I get them settled in the living room, fix some strawberry milk for Mikey and juice for Jackson, and I make breakfast for Jackson. While he is eating that, I fix french toast for Mikey. But he wouldn't eat any of it. I got him to eat a little bit of bacon but that was about it. Jackson got dressed while I dressed Mikey. Brushed Jackson's teeth, washed his face, combed his hair (which he promptly messed up) and we were about ready to go. We headed to the school, dropped Jackson off there and then I headed over to Jenny's mother's apartment. She was keeping Mikey for the day. I was sitting at the red light close to her place and pulled the mirror down so I could look at Mikey who was jabbering in the back seat. I caught a glimpse of an earring and thought to myself "I thought I put on a different pair of earrings." So I push my hair back and there is a different earring on the other ear. Oh well, if that was the only casualty of the morning, I can live with it. I laughed at myself though. I got to work at 8:30 and stayed there until 2:30. Then I went to pick Jackson up from school. Oh yes, Donald has gotten home from his conference by this time. After getting Jackson, I swung by their Granny's to get Mikey. Thursday evening was pretty uneventful. Phillip came over to eat supper and spend some time with his boys. I got them bathed and in bed at a decent hour. This morning Mikey slept until almost 6:30. I took Jackson to school and then came back home to watch Mikey. He was very good and happy all day. He took a fairly good nap this afternoon and had just awakened when his mom came to get them. Mikey was very happy to see her. Jackson hid. He almost always hides when they come to get them. He is never ready to go home. However he looked a little pale to me. I took his temp and it was 100 degrees exactly. This is the third weekend in a row that he has had fever. It is time for the boy to go to the doctor. Anyway, we had a great time with them as always. They are good little boys and we are always thrilled to be able to keep them. Thanks, Phillip and Jenny, for letting them be with us.

Busy, Busy, Busy

We have been busy lately and the next week will be also. In fact, the next month will be busy. I work 30 hours a week, which some people might think isn't much. And I know it is part-time. I leave for work at 7:40 and get home around 5:00. I come home after work and ride the exercise bike for 30 minutes. And I mean a vigorous ride. The bike registers at least nine miles when I am finished. Then I shower because I have really worked up a sweat after that. Then get us something to eat and this isn't hard work because we don't eat a lot at night. On Tuesdays, the grandchildren come over in the evening while their parents have date night. We enjoy those times with them. On Wednesdays, I usually work half a day. That afternoon is usually spent either going to the doctor, dentist, lab work, hair appts., or grocery shopping. I try to schedule all my medical stuff on Wednesday afternoons. On Thursdays, our older grandson comes to spend the night with us. On Friday, we get up early, take him to school then pick up his little brother. He spends the day with us. We take him home at 3:00 then go to pick up his brother at school. He comes home with us for a while until his dad picks him up when he gets home from work. The week is kind of a whirlwind. On Saturdays, we catch up with the housework, outside work, laundry, etc.

Tomorrow Donald is leaving town to go to a training event up near Conroe. That means I will have the boys by myself. Because of some things my son and his wife have going on, both boys are coming to spend the night on Wednesday night. I will take Jackson to school on Thursday and take Mikey to his Granny's for the day. I will go to work but leave early to pick Jackson up from school. Then pick up Mikey and take them back home with me. Donald will be home that evening so he will be able to help out if he isn't wiped out. The boys will spend Thursday night with us as well. Then Friday will be our typical Friday with the boys. It is looking to be more of a tornado week.

Later in the month, we have our annual retreat that we do for our pastors and staff and their wives. It is Thursday through Saturday so our kids will have to find other arrangements for the children. From the retreat, we will go straight to the airport to fly to Savannah, GA. A good friend of ours is being commissioned by the North American Mission Board and we want to be there. So we will be in Savannah from Saturday through Tuesday. I am really looking forward to it. I am hoping we get to eat at Lady and Sons (Paula Deen's restaurant). If not, I know we will eat something good.

Well I know I have rambled on long enough. And I guess I need to go find out who is ahead in the Superbowl. But I can't leave without posting pictures of the boys. So here they are.

God's Silence

Tonight I was reading in my "Experiencing God" book. The subject was the silence of God. Have you ever asked God for something and He is silent. I have. We have a wonderful six year old grandson. I love this child more than my own life. And we wanted more wonderful little grandbabies to cuddle and love on and have fun with. And so did my son and daughter-in-law. Four pregnancies ended suddenly even though we prayed and prayed that the babies would survive. It was impossible to understand how God could allow it to happen. And I don't guess I will ever understand it. I still weep over it, especially over little Evan who was born alive but whose little lungs were not developed enough to allow him to live long.

But in my study tonight, Blackaby says that one of the reasons God is silent is that He is getting ready to reveal Himself in a way that we have never experienced Him before. That he has something better for us than what we are asking for. I'm not saying that anything could be better than one of those little ones surviving. But what I am saying is that we would never have gotten this if they had:

And I can't imagine our lives without Mikey. So thank you, God, for this precious gift.

I'm Baaaaack!

Ok, that is goofy. But I am back. I am going to try to post at least 2 times a week. I make no promises but I will try.

The holidays were very good here at home. Josh and his wife, Ashley were here for the whole week of Christmas and it is always good to have them at home. We saw alot of Phillip, Jenny, Jackson and Mikey. On Christmas morning, Josh and Ashley were at her family's doing their Christmas thing so Phillip and Jenny invited us (including Aunt Gale who came in on Christmas Eve) to come over early to see the boys do the Santa thing. We had not done that before so it was fun. Jackson of course, knew just what to do. And Mikey caught on pretty quickly. He can really tear into the gifts. He isn't all that interested in them once they're opened but he is a good opener. They had a very good Christmas, got lots of things they wanted and some they didn't know they wanted. Their big surprise was a trampoline. They are still loving it. Jackson will even go home willingly if he gets some trampoline time. Anyway, they came over to our house around 11:00 or so. When Josh and Ashley came in a little bit later, we did our Christmas gift giving. Santa was good to all of us. I am loving my ipod touch from my wonderful hubby. Jenny, being a photographer, and Phillip gave some great gifts related to that. I love those pictures, especially the accordion photo album. And the calendar they gave us was so cute. It has all our important family dates on it along with pictures that fit for the month. Love it! I also got a couple of charms for my charm bracelet. Josh and Ashley know how to give good gifts also. They gave me a Jim Shore Santa ornament and a beautiful angel which shall stay out all year. Gale gave me an LSU purse and a jacket. A very nice haul for me.

New Years Day saw us out at the mall looking for deals. We spent $174 that day, so I guess we found them. Actually a good portion of that was for a new Bunn coffee maker. Our old one was in the process of biting the dust. Then we came home and prepared our cabbage, blackeyed peas and steak. It was all so good. I love cabbage.

Then on Monday, we had to go back to work. We are so blessed to have days off at Christmas. This year it worked out that we had two weeks off. It was wonderful and we thank GCBA for that. We have been busy ever since getting back into non-holiday routines.

One thing that happened over the holidays was that our kids got us involved with FACEBOOK. It has been so much fun. We have been in contact with alot of old friends from Pearl, MS where we lived before moving to Texas in 1983. We love those people! I hope we don't lose contact again.

Ok here are a few pictures from Christmas morning.

Here's Mikey

Today has been a special day in our family's life. This morning Phillip and Jenny adopted Mikey. He came into our lives on January 11, 2007 at the age of 2 days. What a blessing he is to all of us! We consider him and Jackson to both be our miracle babies. Thanks to those of you who have prayed for our children during the last three years. And without further ado, heeeere's Mikey!

The Graduate

Yes we celebrated another graduate in the family last night. Jackson graduated from preschool and it was a wonderful celebration indeed. Each teacher introduced each pupil in her class and read a paragraph about the child. Mrs. Connally, Jackson's teacher, called Jackson her Jedi for Jesus which is perfect. He is so Star Wars crazy, but loves Bible stories. At the end she said, "Jackson, I will miss you and may the force be with you!" He loved it. Jenny had prepared a small celebration at their home for him. He was excited about the party.

Jackson's Christmas Kitty

For Christmas, Uncle Josh and Ashley got Jackson and his parents a kitten. It was a big hit with Jackson. Sorry the video is rather dark but you can hear his reaction for a while after he discovers what it is. I think the kitty's name is Kiefer.

Our College Graduate

Yesterday our younger son, Josh, graduated from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. It was a very nice day and we are so proud of him. Family and friends attending were Phillip and Jenny, Gale (my sister from Opelousas, Louisiana), Ashley Massie (Josh's fiancee) and her parents, Steve and Chaulzie, Josh's friend Kevin Colwell from Temple, our friend and his former boss, Mason Howard from Jones Creek. After the graduation ceremony, we all drove down to Conroe to Los Cucos for lunch. We had a very nice time. Josh then went to Temple where he will have his 4th interview with a company there. It is down to two candidates and we are really hoping this is the one for him. With Ashley going to school in Temple, that would be really good. Anyway, here are some pictures from the day.

There he is in the middle trying to call Ashley on his cell phone.

He is about to receive his fake diploma.

Shaking hands with some representative's hand. He was the speaker.

After the ceremony

Kevin took this picture of us. Mason joined us at the restaurant. We didn't know he was there until after the ceremony.

Random Pics of Jackson

Jack, Mom and Dad. Soon they will be four.

Jack and Uncle Josh making stone soup.

He seems a little pensive in this one. The shirt is true.

Working on the computer

Light Saber Fights Go On All The Time

5 lbs.? Piece of cake!

The Emperor Meditating?

Gratitude

This week I am just grateful. So grateful that my younger son is alive and well. Very early yesterday morning, lightning struck his apartment building and the subsequent fire destroyed the complex. He was halfway awake when the firemen beat on his door and told him to get out. This is a miracle in itself. My son can sleep through hours of the alarm clock going off at the highest volume you can imagine.

At any rate, he got out. He had on his shirt and pants and flipflops. No cell phone, no sweater, nothing. When the fire was out he was able to go back in and retrieve some things. Amazingly, his clothes seem to have survived after going through the laundry. None of his electronics and few of his furnishings survived. But as he said yesterday, "It's just stuff." And it is.

The only thing of value that matters to me is walking and talking and going about his business today. His name is Josh. Thank you God for this precious gift.

Camping Again

We took Jackson to Brazos Bend last week just overnight to test out the new trailer. It was a beautiful weekend and we had a nice time. Of course, it was way too short. Jackson is ready to go again and so are we. By the way, the new trailer is excellent.

A Post for Beth

A couple of weeks ago, Beth posted on her blog about food associations. I quote from her blog, "Aunt Debbie::flintzens--she makes great ones!"

I promised Josh that I would make flintzens the next time he and Ashley were home for the weekend. Well that is this weekend so this morning I got up and made them. Beth, I'm sorry you couldn't be here but I thought I would post these pictures so you would feel like you were. Maybe you will remember burnt fingers after you sprinkled the sugar on them and rolled up those hot little delicacies. And maybe you will even imagine the wonderful taste of them. Enjoy!

Our New Purchase

Last Thursday afternoon, Donald and Jackson and I left heading up to the Fort Worth area to purchase a new RV. We love to camp (in comfort) and the time had come to replace our 1988 fifth wheel that we got from Donald's mom after his Dad died. Jackson has started going with us some and besides being old, the RV was just too small. We were trading it in so we pulled it up there and slept in it one last time before buying the new one on Friday. We stayed at Lake Bardwell out of Ennis Thursday night. Jackson was just a trooper about being in the truck so much. He wasn't so sure he wanted us to get a new one either. He loved playing in the old one. But he seems to have gotten over that. He is in and out of the new one. I think it is like a play house for him.

Christmas

We had a really nice Christmas. On Christmas Eve, my sister came in from Louisiana. We did a few errands as soon as she arrived. When we got back home, I cooked a shrimp stew for supper. Before we ate though we went to the Christmas Eve service at Brazos Pointe Fellowship. It was a very nice service. We came home and ate and it was good. Phillip came by to eat a bite when he was finished with the second service at BPF. Josh came in a little bit later too and finished up the stew. I tried to do as much as I could to prepare the Christmas lunch that night.
In the morning, I got up early and put the roast and ponce (a Cajun dish) on to cook. Did quite a few other things as well and things were well in hand when we had to leave to go to First Baptist in Lake Jackson for their Christmas morning service. It was also a very nice service. We got home before noon and did the final preparations for lunch. Josh and Ashley came in, followed by Phillip, Jenny and Jackson. We had a nice lunch and then attacked the tree. Jackson had a good time opening up his numerous gifts. Here are a few shots from the day and the day after Christmas as well.